BB&T wants college students to take notice of what it has to offer. And it's dressing up a handful of university branches on the East Coast with local school colors that are sure to grab attention.
The Greenville branch at 523 Evans St. bordering the campus of East Carolina University has been decked out in purple-and-gold paint and signs in an effort to hook new Pirates in town and give them a place to stash their booty - even if it is just a few pieces of eight.
 Rhett Butler/ The Daily Reflector |
| The BB&T in downtown Greeville has been painted purple and gold as part of the bank's school spirit program in college cities. |
The branch is one of five in to get makeovers in BB&T's school spirit program - the others are at Western Carolina (also purple and gold), Clemson (orange, purple and white), West Virginia (black and gold), and Georgia (red and black).
Dennis Alexander, city executive for Greenville, said he's glad ECU was in the mix for the pilot program.
"We're really happy about the supporting of the effort and supporting of ECU and the Pirates in this fashion," Alexander said. "I'm glad we have the opportunity to sort of visibly display our support for ECU and the ECU Pirates."
The new look has a definite buccaneer flavor. Among the changes:
A new street-side sign with a purple post, white BB&T on a purple background and GO PIRATES! in black letters on a yellow background.
Purple awnings over windows and building entrances.
New BB&T signs on three sides of the building - two purple with gold trim, and one white with gold trim on a purple background.
Purple "clearance" signs at the drive-through entrance.
A purple-and-white BB&T Insurance Services sign.
A stand-alone, drive-through ATM with a purple-and-gold clearance bar, GO PIRATES in black letters and Pirate head logos.
Critiques so far from the Greenville branch has been positive.
"Many of our employees in that branch are graduates of ECU, and they are very excited about this whole program," said A.C. McGraw, media relations manager with BB&T Corporate Communications in Winston-Salem.
McGraw said BB&T had been studying university markets for about two years in creating a "student banking initiative."
"Above and beyond everything else, we are working to increase an affiliation with students and colleges in the communities they're in," she said. "We feel right now it's a great time for all of this to be happening with the back-to-school rush.
"... We're partnering with the universities and with the students through a couple of different things. One is the very proximity of the branch."
Getting noticed is only part of the formula, of course. BB&T hopes its marketing strategy coupled with incentives will bring students needing to establish checking accounts inside the doors.
The bank has established relationships with book stores in its five university markets - in Greenville students who open checking account and obtain a debit card through BB&T receive a $50 rebate on purchases at University Book Exchange, the bank's neighbor which also has plenty of purple and gold splashed about inside and out.
"We're getting great feedback from our clients and from the community around," said Will Frisbie, marketing segment strategist and senior vice president with BB&T. "We're getting really good feedback from students as well and a lot of interest in the offer that we're doing with the University Book Exchange.
"... This is a pilot program. We're starting to take a look at other schools to see if this is something that we would like to do in other areas."
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